Roasted Chestnuts

On By TontowilliamsIn Fork To Fork, Uncategorized, Wildlife/Nature1 Comment

2013-11-03 14.57.09It’s the time of year when you can forage for Sweet Chestnuts either to eat now or to save for Christmas time. They can be used as a tasty snack or for stuffing in the turkey on Christmas Day.

As with all foraged food if you don’t know what something is, don’t eat it!

Sweet Chestnuts are very different to Horse Chestnuts (Conkers) which are poisonous. They have a much thinner and spikier outer casing than the Horse Chestnut.

If in any doubt, leave them be!

2013-11-07 09.24.48We gathered ours and brought them home. There they were washed, their skins nicked (to allow them to expand a little without exploding in the oven!), and roasted on a baking tray in an oven at 200ºC (180ºC Fan), 400F, Gas 6. For about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how large the chestnuts are.

They can also be eaten without roasting, however beware that under the harder outer case there is a thinner membrane that surrounds the nut kernel. This can be quite bitter when they’re raw, so you may want to remove this too.

Once cooked, allow to cool and then simply remove the outer case (remember they still might be hot to touch, so don’t burn yourself!) and eat. They should be soft and crumbly and slightly sweet.

Enjoy!

Back Ache but Happy

On By TontowilliamsIn Garden / Allotment2 Comments

 
I spent yesterday on the allotment, clearing the weeds from the fruit bed. It took a good few hours, and my back aches as a result but I’m pleased with how it looks now. I’ve still got some pruning to do, particularly the gooseberry bushes, and I want to mulch the whole bed with the remaining straw that I bought a while ago. If there’s anywood chips left at the allotment car park I might use some of those too.

With the rain that we’ve had this week, the weeds came out really easily, which is great. My plot really suffers from creeping buttercup, and particularly the fruit bed, as it doesn’t get dug over regularly like the rest of the beds do. I ended up taking seven bags of weeds to the tip.

Frosty Start – The First of the Season & Allotment Short Clips

On By TontowilliamsIn Garden / Allotment
Not This Mornings Weather!
Not This Mornings Weather!

I think last night / this morning was the first proper frost of the season. When I took the dogs for their morning walk, the grass was still crispy and white. I haven’t noticed any signs in the garden yet, but I’ll have another look later in the day and see if there are any plants that look damaged. A sign that winter isn’t very far away.

Video below from the allotment and garden, just a few short clips of things that are happening. At this time of year there isn’t a lot going on so it’s easier to do short clips rather than a long tour, which just shows dug over beds. I will do a longer video before the end of the year though, just to mark the end of 2015!

Early Morning Trip To The Allotment

On By TontowilliamsIn Garden / Allotment

2015-09-10 07.58.51

I love making early morning visits to the allotment. No one else is around, so I get to see another side of the plots with watching the wildlife that inhabits them. This morning it was the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, in the trees on the margins of the plots.

I also get to bring back crops for the meals for today. Apples for breakfast.

2015-09-10 09.32.51

Beetroots for lunch.

2015-09-10 09.32.44

Cabbage for supper.

And Then There Were Two (Well Three Actually)

On By TontowilliamsIn Birds, Garden / Allotment, Wildlife/Nature

IMG_20150908_154938614I wrote yesterday about our Resident Magpie. Well he’s obviously been telling his chums, because this afternoon there were three of them in the garden. Two on the bird feeder and a third on the suet block which is in the tree just behind. Unforunately I wasn’t quick enough with my phone to get a picture of all three together. The one on the lower platform of the feeder is the one I refer to as our resident, and has the discoloured feathers.